GUWAHATI: As a reward for his role in expanding BJP’s influence in the northeast, especially Assam, the party’s national leadership has asked
Assam finance minister
Himanta Biswa Sarma to choose a seat anywhere in the country to fight the
Lok Sabha
election.
“When our national leadership conveyed to me the party wants Himanta to fight the Lok Sabha election and can choose any constituency, I immediately replied it was a great decision but requested Assam be given priority over other states before finalising the constituency for him,” said state BJP president Ranjeet Dass.
A BJP source said, “Himanta’s candidature for Tezpur constituency is final and it is only a matter of making a formal announcement by Amit Shah on Saturday.” However, not everyone is happy. Incumbent MP from Tezpur, Ram Prasad Sarmah, has threatened to quit BJP if denied a ticket. Sarmah had wrested the seat from AGP in 2014. Himanta, who represents Jalukbari in the assembly, has never contested a Lok Sabha election.
Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is curren...
Read MorePrabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.
Read Less